Today, some of your own neighbours will feel stress build as their basic needs like food, shelter and warmth are in direct competition with one another.
Families in this situation are often forced to make trade-offs. Forego dinners this week to pay rent. Skip perishable items so the fridge can be unplugged and the electricity bill kept low. The list goes on.
For Lori, a single mother to 11-year-old Ryan, the trade-off is significant.
“I remember many weekends when I didn’t eat so that Ryan could,” Lori shares.
“We have a very limited food budget each month. To make it through, we rely on Backpack Buddies.”
Lori and Ryan live in North Vancouver – a community they’ve called home for Ryan’s whole life. In 2016, we started delivering backpacks of food to Ryan’s elementary school. Every Friday, he brings home bags filled with soups, snacks, fruit and more.
“Backpack Buddies is essential to so many families,” Lori told me. “Many kids are facing tough challenges behind closed doors at home. They need extra food to get them through the week or the month.”
“Having a bag of food every weekend takes a huge weight off of both the child and their parents when they don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from.”